Electrical socket and contact for the same



1944' E. E. HANNIGAN 2,356,398

ELECTRICAL SOCKET AND CONTACT FOR THE SAME Filed Oct. 10, 1942 3Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 22, 1944. HANMGAN 2,356,398

ELECTRICAL SOCKET AND CONTACT FOR THE SAME Filed Oct. 10, 1942 5SheetsSheet 5 Emmei Hana/129a.

Patented Aug. 22, 1944 ELECTRICAL SOCKET AND CONTACT FOR THE SAME EmmetE. Hannigan, La Grange, Ill., assignor to Cinch ManufacturingCorporation, Chicago, 111.,

a corporation of Illinois Application October 10, 1942, Serial No.461,546

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in electrical socketinstallations as well as the contacts therefor, particularly to socketsand contacts for pronged radio tubes and like pronged appliances, andaims generallyto improve existing constructions of that type.

The invention aims to provide an improved, economical socketconstruction which may be readily assembled and will be suitable for usewith a variety of tube styles, such as the octal, loctal and miniaturetubes. A further aim of the invention is to provide an improved contactthat can be economically producedv with a minimum of scrap and which hasa more durable spring action to withstand innumerable insertions andwithdrawals of the pronged appliances without impairing contactefliciency.

Illustrative of the invention, reference is made to the accompanyingdrawings showing two preferred embodiments of the invention and in whichFig. 1 is a side elevation of an improved radio and the like socketmember;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the socket shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. .3 is an enlarged detail top plan view of one of the contacts and asurrounding portion of the socket;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a modified form of socket member;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the socket shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail fragmentary sectional view taken on theline 6-6 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a similar view taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 3 illustrating aportion of the prong of a tube therein;

Figs. 8 and 9 are sectional views similar to Figs. 6 and 7, butillustrating the socket of Figs. 4 and 5;

Figs. 10, 11 and 12 are enlarged diagrammatic views of a portion of theblank illustrating the manner of forming the contact; I

Figs. 13, 14 and 15 are side elevations, top plan and edge elevations,respectively, of one form of improved contact; and

Figs. 16, 17 and 18 are side elevation, top plan and edge elevation,respectively, of another form of improved contact.

Referring to the drawings, the improved socket installation may comprisenested annular insulating members I and 2 suitably secured together asby rivets 3 for mounting a plurality of contact members as is usual.

According to one form of the invention (Figs. 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7) theinsulating member I may be of L-shaped cross-section providing a baseportion 4 and an upstanding peripheral rim 5, and the ring member 2 maybe of such shape as to be fitted on the base inside the rim. The base 4is formed with a thin, elongated slot 5 preferably with one face thereofin line with the inner vertical face of the rim 5 (see Fig. 7) and theinner face of the rim 5 is formed with a recess 1, preferably V-shapedand located intermediate the vertical edges of the slot 5.

The insulating member 2, which advantageously is of a thickness equal tothe height of the rim 5, preferably has formed in its periphery aplurality of rectangular recesses 8 of a depth equal to the width of theslot 6 but of greater length, the inner vertical face 1 being formedwith a supplementary recess 9 preferably V-shaped and complementary tothe recess 1, so that when the two recesses T and 9 are in juxtaposedaligned position a substantially rectangular contact-receiving openingis formed.

Alternatively the socket may comprise a plurality of superposedinsulating members I and 2 (Figs. 4, 5, 8 and 9), the lower member I ofwhich is formed with a thin elongated slot 6 and the upper member 2 ofwhich is formed with a rectangular opening l with longitudinallydisposed recesses 9 extending beyond the diagonal corners of said recessI and adapted to be disposed in the plane of the opening 6 of the memberI.

In either event the slots and recesses combine to form contact-receivingopenings of simple and unique construction characterized by theprovision of a thin elongated opening shouldered as at ID for ablade-like contact, the upper portion of which has an elongated opening,preferably rectangular, with its major axis inclined to the axis of thethin elongated opening.

According to the invention the contacts are of a simple novelconstruction and may be formed from a single piece of metal with aminimum of waste, thus providing an extremely economical contact tomanufacture.

The contacts may be stamped from a single strip or ribbon of metal toprovide an elongated thin blade-like body I 5, the lower terminal end ofwhich may be suitably formed for the ready application of an electricalconductor. The head end iii of the contact is preferably wider than thebody l5 providing shoulders ll adapted to seat upon the shoulders ID ofthe socket openings (see Fig. 10).

The head portion l6 of the blade-like contacts I5 is thereafter cut outor apertured as at l8 bethe top 'edge thereof (see Fig. 11 leaving upperconnecting portion II which may be cut ong a median line, as at ll (Fig.12) providing wings I eg n as at I! (see Figs. 2, 7, and 13 to 15inclusive),

providing opposed semi-circular portions adapted to grip and bear onopposite sides of a cylindrical tube prong A, as shown in Figs. 7 and 9.Advantageously, the ends of the wings may overlap along a transversemedian plane (see Fig. 14) and preferably this may be accomplished bybending the tines on opposite sides of the cutout portion it toward eachother after the wings have been formed into their desired shape.

Alternatively the wings may be angularly bent plane surfaces 24 adaptedto make line contact with a cylindrical tube prong, as illustrated inFigs. 16 to 18 inclusive, in which case the upper portions of the wingsmay be outwardly flared as at 25 to provide a ready ntering throat forthe tube prong.

It will be observed that as the wings 20 are bent outwardly in oppositedirections at oneangle of less than 45 degrees from the plane of theblade body, the resiliency of the metal tends normally to urge the twocontact wings together. These opposed contact wings thus receive thetube prong and expand under a spring action which is desirable inproviding a satisfactory electrical connection between the tube prongand contact.

As is illustrated in Figs. 7 and 9, both forms of socket and contactsprovide a simple construction employing a blade-like contact readilyinsertable in the insulating support which provides opposed springcontact between the sides of the tube'prong A and the contact wings, aswell as l adapted to be bent outwardly and angu-. to the plane of theblade ll. Advanta- I assasaa end contact (at 3,- Figs. 7 and 9) betweenthe end of the prong and the bottom of the aperture ll. Insertion of thetube in the socket permits the end of the prongs to engage the bottom ofthe aperture I. forcing the contact ll bodily inwardly of the sections iand 2 and maintaining th shoulders [1 thereof seated upon the shouldersill of the socket recess.

While I have illustrated and described preferred' embodiments of myinvention, I do not wish to be limited thereto because the scope of myinvention is best defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A contact for pronged tube sockets and the like comprising a thinribbon-like metal member having a head and stem and laterally oii'setshoulders between the head and stem, the head portion being bifurcatedalong the axis thereof to provide spaced longitudinal legs and anintermediate prong-receiving opening, lateral extensions on said legsdisposed at an angle of less than 45 degrees with reference to the planeof the ribbonlike members adapted to make resilient electrical contactwith opposite sides of a prong inserted in said opening.

2. A contact for pronged tube sockets comprising a thin ribbon-likemetal member formed with a bifurcated portion at one end and laterallyoffset arcuate portions on said bifurcations angularly disposed withreference to the plane of the ribbon-like member for engagement with thesides of said prong.

3. A contact for pronged tube sockets and the like comprising a thinribbon-like metal member having a head and stem and laterally offsetshoulders between the head and stem, the head portion being bifurcatedproviding spaced longitudin'al legs and an intermediate prong-receivingopening, lateral arcuate extensions on said legs disposed angularly withrelation to the plane of the ribbon-like member adjusted to makeelectrical contact with opposite sides of a prong inserted in saidopening.

EMMET E. HANNIGAN.

